Johannesburg - They shouted “Phonsa le bucket! Ntombazana suka endleleni (Throw me the bucket. Get out of the way girl)”.
Sweat streamed down their faces as they threw buckets in relay, lining up from the communal tap all the way to the burning shack.
They were desperate. They had to stop the raging fire from reaching the next shack – whatever it took: stones to break down wooden poles, and buckets to draw the blackened water running down the zigzagging alleys of the Kya Sand informal settlement on Thursday.
Women with babies strapped to their backs scurried around with bags of clothes, pots, mattresses and documents, salvaging whatever they could. A thick black cloud hung over their heads – literally and figuratively.
More than 500 shacks had been razed, Johannesburg Emergency Services spokeswoman Nana Radebe said at about 7 on Thursday night.
“We’ve lost everything. All our stuff has been burnt – my books, my school uniform… everything,” said 17-year-old Nocwaka Sithole.
She had been taking a nap when the fire started around noon.
“I heard voices screaming ‘it’s burning… it’s burning!’… but I thought it was a dream. Then I felt the shack getting too hot. I peeked out and saw a cloud of smoke…I saw the fire,” she said.
There was no time to salvage any of her family’s belongings. She just grabbed her sister’s 5-year-old son and dashed out the door. All she is left with is the summer dress she was wearing.
A cloud of black smoke bellowing from the settlement could be seen as far as 3km away, causing panic among those who had been at work when the fire started.
Jumping off taxis, the men and women could be seen running frantically into the settlement, with hopes of salvaging a few of their belongings.
But for others it was too late.
“I was at work in Randfontein when I got a call. I took five taxis to get here, but everything was burnt to ashes when I arrived,” said Thabang Msibi.
And those who managed to salvage a few of their belongings fell victim to thieves, said Lerato Sebola.
“People here are thieves. They have stolen my pots… they were just here… my stove also,” she said.
Her neighbour’s mattress also disappeared into the hazy settlement, so she watched over a few of her remaining items like a hawk.
Men and women sat around in groups, their mattresses piled up, clothes wrapped in cloths, in plastic bags, in suitcases and boxes.
With her youngest son strapped to her back and the 5-year-old standing next to her, 25-year-old Vutoni Ngobeni’s biggest worry was where her young family would spend the night and what she would feed her children. Her ID was gone, and so was her youngest son’s birth certificate.
“They must have fallen when I moved things out of the shack. I had them at some point… but I can’t find them now,” she said.
No one knew what caused the fire.
“At this stage we don’t know… we’ll conduct preliminary investigations. We don’t (even) know how many shacks burnt. It’s probably 500, but we’ll have the final figure tomorrow,” Radebe said on Thursday night.
Eight people were treated for smoke inhalation, but had refused to be taken to hospital, she said.
She disputed residents’ claims that the fire truck had run out of water. Pointing to two trucks, she said they had been brought in to keep replenishing the fire trucks because there was no water hydrant in the area.
On Friday morning, Radebe told Sapa that displaced families had stayed at a church overnight.
“The Judah Africa Church in Kya Sands accommodated many people but some went to stay with their relatives,” she said.
“Church volunteers and emergency services personnel cooked for them and blankets were handed to them. But we are still asking people to donate blankets by calling 011-286-6009.”
The Star and Sapa